CHAPTER XV

EMULATION LODGE OF IMPROVEMENT
No work embracing Lodges of Instruction and Ritual would be complete without a reference to the Emulation Lodge of Im- _ provement. Those who wish to know all about it can- ~ not do better than read Bro. Sadler’s ‘ Illus- trated History of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement’ (published by Spencer and Co., at 5s. 6d.); and their ‘ desire of know- ledge’ may be gently stimulated by a perusal of a pleasant little pamphlet by Bro. F. Beb- bington Goodacre (published by Hutton and Co., Ormskirk, Lancs).
-Emulation Lodge of Improvement,’ which meets every Friday evening at six o’clock at Freemasons’ Hall from October to June inclusive (Good Friday excepted), was founded in 1823 to work the precise form of Ritual settled by the Lodge of Re- conciliation, as approved, sanctioned, and
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confirmed by the Grand Lodge on June 5, 1816, and as recorded on the Minutes of Grand Lodge.
The fundamental principle of ‘ Emulation,’ its absolute raison d’étre, is the conviction that no one has any right to alter one word of that Ritual, or to tamper with it in any way.
Its claim is that it works now, always has worked, and always will work (without varia- tion, and even without the possibility of variation, of a letter, character, or figure), that Ritual and that alone.
It takes its stand upon the simple idea that whatever the Ritual was settled to be by Grand Lodge in 1816, so it must remain, word for word and letter for letter, until (it ever) Grand Lodge should see fit to alter it.
It is unable to conceive with what authority any subordinate Mason, or body of Masons, can imagine himself or themselves to be clothed, which would warrant him or them in even deliberating upon the subject of Ritual, with a view to alter it, after it has once been sanctioned and confirmed by United Grand Lodge.
Consequently it has no sympathy with those who desire to ‘ correct’ or ‘ improve”
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the Ritual, or to render it more ‘ consistent,’ ‘harmonious,’ or ‘logical,’ or more ‘his- torically accurate,’ to introduce words into it, or to round off phrases, or to make it “more grammatical,’ ‘ more dignified,’ or to “bring it up to date ’—in other words, to ‘tinker ’ with it. ;
It is from the erroneous idea that any neophyte may exercise his prancing fancy upon the sacred ground of our ancient and honourable institution, and rush in where angels fear to tread, that the existing diver- sities of practice have unfortunately eman- ated.
Many causes have contributed to this idea, and among them may be mentioned:
1. Apathy of Masons generally on the subject.
2. Want of knowledge or remembrance of past history.
3. Failure to instruct incomers.
4. Bad advice on the subject.
5. Modesty on the part of ‘ Emulation.’
By the wonderful expansion of Free- masonry, thousands and thousands of ‘Masons have been brought into being; and. as during the last eighty years there has been unfortunately no Official, no Authorized
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Preceptor * charged with the duty of keeping Masons within due bounds as to Ritual, many Lodges, from want of knowledge, or from indifference, have, in the most hap- hazard fashion, dropped into a little system of their own or followed local ideas.
Some ‘ Clubs,’ indeed, have started with
the avowed object of constructing a Ritual _
of their.own, not perceiving that ipso facto they are transgressing their elementary vows of Obedience.
The consequence has been that many variations of the Ritual have arisen; and, not having been officially stamped out, they have flourished like weeds, become numer- ically considerable, and have audaciously developed themselves into ‘ Workings.’
These ‘ Workings’ are, of course, utterly unauthorized.
The only Ritual which has ever been authorized is the Ritual which was settled
* Several attempts have, from time to time, been ‘made to induce Grand Lodge to appoint a Com- mittee for the purpose of securing and insuring Uniformity of Ritual. On December 1, 1869, a motion for the appointment of such a Committee was carried unanimously in Grand Lodge, but on June 1, 1870, it was agreed to postpone the | appointment sine die.
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once and for all by the Lodge of Reconcilia- - tion in 1813 to 1816.
The Grand Secretary writes on the subject:
“This is tne system which the Emulation Lodge of Improvement was founded in 1823 to teach, and which is taught by that Lodge to-day’ (see Letter, in extenso, pp.128 and 129).
The corroborative evidence of this in- variability is manifold.
In the first place there is the uninterrupted descent of the Emulation Ritual from Peter William Gilkes, who was officially acknow- ledged by Grand Lodge as the exponent of the Ritual of the Lodge of Reconciliation.
Peter William Gilkes personally taught that Ritual to Stephen Barton Wilson, who personally taught it to Thomas Fenn, who personally taught it to R. Clay Sudlow.
Then there is the evidence on which they all base themselves as to the extraordinary care which has always been taken to safe- guard its accuracy, amounting to an im- possibility of alteration, all of which will be found in Bro. Sadler’s ‘ History.’
The reverent spirit in which this care is exercised is apparent in the following ex- tract from a speech by Bro: R. Clay Sudlow (February 23, 1894):
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‘, .. We look upon the Trust delivered to us by those Brethren as very important indeed—a very sacred one—and speaking for myself, and I am sure speaking in the name of my colleagues, I may say that that Trust shall be most faithfully, most honour- ably, and most religiously preserved.’
Finally, there is one most convincing test which is available to-day, and that is: Let anyone working there try to make a tiny little variation in the course of his work and see what happens!
Every Mason should visit the Emulation Lodge of Improvement, even if only to see what it is like.
No one can judge without facts in evi- dence.
The beauty of the work as it is performed there, the absolute accuracy, the unvarying system, the attention to detail, will enable the observant Mason to realize that here, at any rate, is a wonderful model.
But when to that admiration is added the conviction that it is the only authorized version, the intending student must come to the conclusion that he ought not to learn any other. It issimply waste of time to do so.
But Emulation Lodge of Improvement is
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not in the ordinary sense a Lodge of Instruc- tion. Itis rather a Lodge of Demonstration
to which Masons, from all parts of the world,
come with the object of seeing how the work ought to be done.
Therefore anyone undertaking to work there is expected to be a qualified exponent
of the work of the office he undertakes.
To meet this difficulty and to permit the gradual development of the system, Emula- tion Lodge of Improvement has of late years recognized a series of Emulation-Working Lodges of Instruction, in which the Emula- tion system is strictly adhered to, and in which the earnest Mason may thoroughly learn the various Ceremonies, and so qualify himself to work at Headquarters. Obvi- ously he can the more readily do this if he has not already filled his mind with the vagaries of various unrecognized ‘ Workings.’
Every Mason, therefore, should join one or more of these Emulation-Working Lodges of Instruction * in order to learn, and perfect himself in, the one and only Ritual ever authorized by Grand Lodge.
* A List of Lodges of Instruction recognized by the Committee of the Emulation Lodge of Im- provement will be found on pp. 464 and 465.
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He should make a practice also of attend- ing Emulation Lodge of Improvement on Friday nights to familiarize himself with every detail.
Then when his turn comes to take up regular Office in his own Lodge, he will not only have confidence that he will be able to do the right thing in the right way, but he will doubtless feel it to be his privilege and duty to assist the good work by leading the footsteps of his younger brethren in the straight and narrow path he himself has trodden.
* * * *
A few words are added, by request, with reference to that which is sometimes accus- ingly spoken of as the Intolerance of Emula- tion.
The form of the answer greatly depends upon the spirit in which the accusation is made; but, assuming it to be made aca- demically, \et us freely admit—nay, claim— that Emulation is, and always will be, in- tolerant to the last degree of—wilful error, or intentional deviation from the Ritual of the Lodge of Reconciliation which, and which alone, Emulation recognizes and teaches.
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Let us also admit and claim that, in its moments of teaching and demonstration, Emulation is also intolerant of the slightest accidental error, or unintentional deviation from the absolute accuracy which is its basic and fundamental principle.
The I.P.M., assisted by brother committec- men, sits earnestly watchful for the slightest lapse, so that it may be corrected on the instant.
This educational intolerance of error in the Emulation Lodge of Improvement is the greatest—indeed, the only possible—safe- guard for the pure and unsullied transmis- sion of the Ritual of the Lodge of Recon- ciliation from generation to generation; and, in the minds of the thinking Masons who support the Emulation Lodge of Improve- ment, constitutes one of the principal claims to their gratitude and praise.
But the ixtolerance of Emulation 1s limited to its educational aspect, and any suggestion of intolerance, in any other than an educa- tional sense, can only emanate from some - ~ among those (and unfortunately they are many) who do not know Emulation as it really is, and are not on visiting terms with it.
Freemasonry and its Etiquette
He should make a practice also of attend- ing Emulation Lodge of Improvement on Friday nights to familiarize himself with every detail.
Then when his turn comes to take up |
regular Office in his own Lodge, he will not only have confidence that he will be able to do the right thing in the right way, but he will doubtless feel it to be his privilege and duty to assist the good work by leading the footsteps of his younger brethren in the straight and narrow path he himself has trodden. * * * *
A few words are added, by request, with reference to that which is sometimes accus- ingly spoken of as the Intolerance of Emula- tion.
The form of the answer greatly depends upon the spirit in which the accusation is made; but, assuming it to be made aca- demically, \et us freely admit—nay, claim— that Emulation is, and always will be, in- tolerant to the last degree of—wilful error, or intentional deviation from the Ritual of the Lodge of Reconciliation which, and which alone, Emulation recognizes and teaches.
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Let us also admit and claim that, in its ~ moments of teaching and demonstration, Emulation is also intolerant of the slightest accidental error, or unintentional deviation from the absolute accuracy which is its basic and fundamental principle.
The I.P.M., assisted by brother committec- men, sits earnestly watchful for the slightest lapse, so that it may be corrected on the instant.
This educational intolerance of error in the Emulation Lodge of Improvement is the greatest—indeed, the only possible—safe- guard for the pure and unsullied transmis- sion of the Ritual of the Lodge of Recon- ciliation from generation to generation; and, in the minds of the thinking Masons who support the Emulation Lodge of Improve- ment, constitutes one of the principal claims to their gratitude and praise.
But the intolerance of Emulation is limited to its educational aspect, and any suggestion of intolerance, in any other than an educa- tional sense, can only emanate from some - - among those (and unfortunately they are many) who do not know Emulation as it really is, and are not on visiting terms with it.